The Way of Saint James: history, symbols and the Codex Calixtinus

Even more than the destination, at Santiago it is the journey that counts. From the tenth century onwards pilgrims from all over Europe set out for Galicia, crossing the Pyrenees, plateaus and rivers along routes that became true cultural arteries. Monasteries, hospices, bridges and churches arose along the way to receive them. Religious orders and confraternities provided assistance, and whole cities, such as Burgos or León, owe part of their fortune to the passage of pilgrims. The Way of Saint James has thus become a web of roads, legends and symbols that still attracts walkers of every origin and conviction.

The Codex Calixtinus, a twelfth-century guide

The most important medieval source is the Codex Calixtinus, kept in Santiago Cathedral and compiled around the middle of the twelfth century. The manuscript, also known as the Liber Sancti Jacobi, brings together sermons, liturgies, miracle stories and polyphonic music. By literary fiction it was attributed to Pope Callixtus II, from whom it takes its name, but its real compiler remains uncertain. Among its musical pieces is the Congaudeant catholici, regarded as one of the earliest known examples of three-part polyphony.

The fifth book is a true pilgrims' guide, sometimes attributed to the French cleric Aymeric Picaud. It describes the four routes that crossed France, starting from Paris, Vézelay, Le Puy and Arles, and their joining into a single road at Puente la Reina. The text lists the shrines to visit, the drinkable waters and those to avoid, and does not spare sharp judgements on the inhabitants of the regions crossed.

The scallop shell and the staff

The symbol of the pilgrim to Santiago is the scallop shell, abundant on the Galician coast. Originally pilgrims gathered it at the end of their journey as proof of having arrived; over time it became a badge sewn onto cloak or hat. The Codex Calixtinus already offers a moral reading of it, comparing its ribs to the fingers of a hand open to good works.

Beside the shell, the pilgrim carried the staff, a long stick, and the scrip. In medieval blessings the staff was compared to a support against dangers, and the scrip, small and always open, to a sign of poverty and sharing. These objects appear in countless sculptures and paintings, and in later centuries they became the very attributes of Saint James the pilgrim.

Holy years, the Compostela and modern revival

Compostelan holy years fall when 25 July, the apostle's feast day, coincides with a Sunday. In these years the cathedral's Holy Door is opened and the number of pilgrims rises considerably. Those who cover at least the last hundred kilometres on foot or on horseback, or two hundred by bicycle, can receive the Compostela, the document attesting the pilgrimage, heir to the ancient letters issued by the Church.

After centuries of decline, the Way enjoyed a strong revival in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1987 the Council of Europe proclaimed it the first European Cultural Route, and UNESCO inscribed the French Way on the World Heritage List in 1993 and the routes in France in 1998. Today believers and non-believers walk it alike, united by the experience of slowness, shared effort and arrival in the Obradoiro square.